Catheter.



C. W. BELL.

. CATHETER.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 29, 1910.

Patented May 6, 1913.

M k g WW WH WN r FM. 4w W 4 1% M. w m M TTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. BELL, OF STRONG, MAINE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN S. HARLOW, OF DIXFIELD, MAINE.

CATHETER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 6, 1913.

Application filed July 29, 1910. Serial No. 574,515.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. BELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Strong, in the county of Franklin and State of Maine, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Catheters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawlngs.

My invention has for its object an improvement in catheters; and is intended particularly to provide a catheter to be used particularly in prostatic cases where the passage in which the catheter is to be inserted is bent or curved to a smaller radius than is the case under normal conditions.

In the use of catheters as heretofore constructed, so far as is known to me, a stifiening member, if used at all, is composed either of spring metal having an elastic limit such that no permanent set can be given it, or else one composed of a soft metal having no elasticity. Furthermore, the stiffening member has been located within the lumen of the tube of the catheter and the catheter has been open at the end, so that injury has frequently resulted from the protrusion of the stiifening member through the end of the catheter.

In constructing my improved catheter, I embed in one wall of the tube a stiifening member, making the tube with a solid end in which the end of the stiffening member is embedded, and making the orifice of the catheter on the side just back of the solid tip or end, thereby preventing absolutely all possibility of the stiffening member becoming protruded. The stiitening member is made of some metal like tempered piano wire which is soft enough so that it can be given a permanent set or bend by the user but which when so set or bent will still have a certain amount of elasticity so that if then bent slightly it will tend to spring back to the curved form previously given it. This stifi'ening member being embedded on the wall of the catheter causes the flexible tube of the catheter to retain any curve which is given to it and yet to be slightly elastic or springy.

Before inserting the catheter it is bent to a predetermined curve which is preferably somewhat sharper than the curve of the passage in which the instrument is to be inserted. Thereafter, the catheter may be insorted through the straight part of the passage through the body without bending it enough to change the permanent shape to which it has been set. As the catheter is further inserted through the curved portion of the passage, the end of the catheter tends to press against the anterior wall of the passage rather than on the posterior wall as has heretofore been the case where a catheter having a straight stiffening member is used. This is of especial importance in prostatic cases in which the passage is caused to be curved more sharply than under ordinary conditions.

My improved catheter is no more expensive to make than those heretofore employed and has many important advantages.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claim at the close of the specification.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is a side elevation on a somewhat enlarged scale of a catheter embodying my invention, a portion thereof being in section for convenience of illustration. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line 2-2 Fig. 1 (also on an enlarged scale). Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section (also on an enlarged scale) of the point be ing taken on line 3-3 Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a side elevation (also on an enlarged scale) of the catheter bent into a curve for use and indicating in dotted lines a second position which it may assume. Fig. 5 is a transverse section (also on an enlarged scale) of a modified form, in which the stiffening member is contained within a rib which projects into the lumen of the tube.

Referring to the drawings :--At A is shown the tube of the catheter. This may be of rubber of proper flexibility, or of textile material such as lisle thread and coated to give it a smooth surface, or it may be of an other suitable material. The walls of the tube are preferably of uniform or substantiallyv uniform thickness, which is great enough to permit the stiffening member B to be contained therein. The tube of the catheter is closed at one end and slightly rounded or pointed for convenience of insertion. The orifice C is located at a short distance back from the point and on the side of the tube. The stiffening member eX- tends the entire length of the tube and preferably ends in a slight enlargement which is embedded in the solid point of the tube. This prevents absolutely any possibility of the stiffening member making its way through the material of which the tube is made and protruding therefrom, which is likely to cause injury to the walls of the passage in which the catheter is employed. The stiffening member is made from a fine wire from which the temper has been nearly drawn so that while retaining some elasticity it may be bent readily in the fingers to the desired shape and when so bent will retain the desired curve while at the same time being somewhat elastic.

In Fig. 4; I have shown the catheter embodying my invention bent to a shape in which it may be employed and have indicated in dotted lines, at E, the position which it assumes when in place in the passage, the curve being then not quite so sharp. By bending the catheter to the sharper curve as shown in full lines, the pressure of the point of the catheter is exerted on the anterior instead of on the posterior Wall of the passage, and as the anterior wall of the passage is convex instead of concave the catheter may be much more easily pushed into place.

In Fig. 5 is shown a section of a catheter in which the stiffening member is embedded in a rib F which protrudes into the lumen of the tube.

WVhile I have shown my improved catheter as being constructed with a single stiffening member, it is obvious that more than one may be employed if desired. l/Vhen one stiffening member is employed, it 10- cates itself on the inside of the curve when the catheter is bent and assists in causing the catheter to bend as the catheter is inserted.

Vhat I claim is z- The improved catheter comprising a tube of flexible material having a solid end and an orifice in the side near said end, and having in thewall thereof a substantially straight longitudinal rib, said ing within said solid end and being of material capable of taking a given set and thereafter adhering to thesame.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES WV. BELL.

Witnesses:

Jnssm E. MORRISON, ALICE H. MORRISON.

M g Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

rib terminat- 

